Gate Repair in Crofton, Gambrills & Anne Arundel County

A gate drags on the ground because its latch side has dropped, and that happens when the frame racks out of square, the hinges loosen or bend, or the hinge post leans toward the opening. Often more than one is at work. Frames built without a brace, or with the brace running the wrong way, slowly turn into a parallelogram. Hinges too light for the gate pull their screws out of weathered wood. Hinge posts rot at grade or get worked loose by frost in the wet clay soil around Crofton and Gambrills. We check the post first, because if the post moves, no gate adjustment lasts. Then we square, brace or rehang the gate as needed.

Moving a gate latch that no longer lines up is usually the wrong fix, because the latch did not move: the gate or one of its posts did. When a latch that used to catch starts missing, the gate has sagged, the hinge post has leaned, or the latch post has pulled away from the opening. Moving the latch down to meet a sagging gate hides the problem for a few months while the gate keeps dropping, and you end up with extra screw holes in the post. We find what moved and correct it, then set the latch where it belongs so the gate closes and catches without being lifted or shoved.

Anti-sag gate kits work on a gate with a solid frame that has drifted out of square, as long as the kit is installed in the right direction. The kit is a steel cable with a turnbuckle that runs from the top corner on the hinge side to the bottom corner on the latch side. Because the cable works in tension, tightening the turnbuckle lifts the drooping corner and holds it there. A kit will not save a gate whose rails are rotted or whose joints are falling apart, and it does nothing for a hinge post that is leaning in the ground. On those gates we replace the post or rebuild the frame with a diagonal brace.

A diagonal brace on a wood gate should run from the bottom corner on the hinge side up to the top corner on the latch side. A wood brace works in compression, so set that way, the weight of the latch side presses down along the brace into the bottom hinge, where the post can carry it. A brace running the other way, from the top hinge corner down to the bottom latch corner, just hangs there and does very little to stop sag. We find that backwards brace on a lot of gates around Crofton and Gambrills. A steel cable kit is the opposite, because a cable works in tension, so it runs from the top hinge side to the bottom latch side.

Yes, we can fix a pool gate so it swings shut and latches on its own from any open position, which is how a pool gate should behave every time. When a pool gate stops short, bounces off the latch, or has to be pulled shut, the cause is usually worn or weak self-closing hinges, a sagging gate that binds before it reaches the latch, or a latch that has shifted out of line. We correct the sag, set the hinge tension, and align the self-latching hardware, which mounts high out of small children's reach. We confirm the requirements for your property before changing hardware on a pool enclosure, then test the swing from several open positions.

Double driveway gates stop meeting in the middle when one post leans, one leaf sags, or the drop rod no longer lands in its receiver. Each leaf hangs from its own post, so movement on either side throws the pair out of line: the halves end up at different heights and the center latch will not catch. The drop rod is the vertical rod on one leaf that drops into the ground or a sleeve to hold it still. If that hole has filled with dirt or gravel, or the leaf has dropped so the rod misses, the whole gate fights you. We level both leaves, fix moving posts, clear or reset the receiver, and realign the center latch.

Yes, we repair vinyl, black aluminum and chain link gates as well as wood gates. Vinyl gates have an aluminum frame inside the vinyl, and most vinyl gate hinges and latches are adjustable. When a vinyl gate sags, the usual causes are loose hinge screws in the post, a hinge post that shifted in the ground, or an adjustment that drifted. We tighten or replace the hardware, reset a moved post, and add a metal insert inside a flexing vinyl post to stiffen it. Aluminum gates are lighter, but their hinges wear and brackets loosen over time, so we adjust or replace those and re-level the posts until the gate swings true.

Repairing an old gate makes sense when the frame and boards are sound and the posts are solid; building a new gate makes sense when the bottom rail and picket ends are rotted or the frame joints have failed. A sound gate gets squared up, braced or fitted with an anti-sag kit, moved to heavier hinges, and given a reset latch. A gate patched so many times it is more screws than wood is past that point. We can build a new gate to match your fence style, with the brace running the correct direction and hardware sized for its weight. Either way, we check the gate posts, because a new gate on a rotted post sags just like the old one.

A wood gate that sticks in summer and closes fine in winter is swelling with Maryland's humidity, and the gap it needs to swing freely is too tight for that seasonal movement. Wood boards and frames take on moisture in humid, rainy months and expand, then shrink again in drier cold weather. If the gate was hung with a tight gap at the latch side or bottom, or has sagged a little, the swollen gate rubs the latch post or the ground. We square the gate, leave a working gap on the latch side and under the bottom rail, and recommend staining or sealing the gate so it absorbs less water and moves less between seasons.

A gate that swings open by itself is usually hanging from a hinge post that is out of plumb, or its latch is no longer catching, so gravity or wind pulls it off the stop. If the hinge post leans so the top tips toward the open direction, the gate rolls open the way a door does in a tilted frame. If the gate has sagged, the latch bar can ride under the catch instead of dropping into it. We check the hinge post for plumb and firmness at grade, square and rehang the gate, and reset the latch so the bar drops fully into the catch. A gate stop or a self-closing hinge keeps it shut in wind.